Roman Torres, a resident in the Big Tree Trailer City just off New Laredo Highway, returned to his home to go through belongings after the flood.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Jesus Mendez, left, sits in the hallway at the shelter at Christa McAuliffe Middle School, on Friday May 31, 2013.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Adelaido Puente stands, wondering what he is going to do, in front of his mobile home he bought just three months ago that was damaged beyond repair by the recent flooding in Big Tree Trailer City just off New Laredo Highway.

Displaced residents at Big Tree Trailer City will have free apartment homes after contamination from last weekend's flooding devastated their neighborhood and forced them to evacuate Friday.

But once the government aid runs out, they will have to start paying rent for the new units — ranging from the $400s to the $800s — double to quadruple what some had been paying at the mobile home community off Plumnear Road on the Southwest Side.

For Paloma Cantu, whose family doesn't have a steady paycheck, the thought is unfathomable.

“And then, what if we can't pay?” she said angrily in Spanish after speaking with case workers at McAuliffe Middle School on Friday, a shelter set up for the community. “Imagine going from (paying) $230 per month to $800.”

A dozen families from Big Tree who have nowhere else to go will be placed in apartments by the city's Department of Human Services using federal and local funds. No one who asked for help was turned away, said Melody Woosley, interim director of the department.

Many qualified for grants provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Requirements included legal citizenship and an income level below 30 percent of the area's median income.

Those who didn't qualify for federal funds were helped by the city, Woosley said.

Officials hope to have everyone in their new apartments and out of the shelter by Friday.

But Cantu doesn't want an apartment. She and her husband, a construction worker, want materials to rebuild and a place to anchor their trailer home. The couple, however, doesn't even have tires on which to transport the mobile home, Cantu said.

Still, others at the park were satisfied with the assistance they got — even Roman Torres, who had said Thursday that he'd refuse to leave his home if he didn't get answers about what would happen to his belongings.

“We're getting the first month's rent, the deposit. I'm happy with that,” Torres said. “It's more than what I expected.”

City officials said the neighborhood will be patrolled more frequently by police, and a locked fence will be placed along Plumnear Road to keep intruders out.

Storage pods were to be delivered to Big Tree on Friday so residents could move out furniture, electronics and other valuables.

Meanwhile, a team of 14 employees with Animal Care Services went to the neighborhood Friday morning to collect eight cats, five dogs and Duvalin, a pony named for a popular Mexican hazelnut candy.

Lisa Norwood, spokeswoman for ACS, said that within a half hour Friday morning, ACS workers were able to round up the animals and carry them away.

Shortly after noon, ACS officials still were at the site, attempting to trap other animals left at the park. The animals will be boarded until the owners get back on their feet.

The future of the park still is unknown, and residents say they have not been in touch with its owner, Mardoche Abdelhak.

Attempts to reach Abdelhak were unsuccessful. The trailer park's property manager, who declined to give his name, said Abdelhak hasn't given any indication that he'll fight to keep the trailer park running.